Sunny Leone opens up about falling prey to deepfakes, shares advice for young girls: ‘It’s not your fault’

In November 2023, actor Rashmika Mandanna spoke against her deepfake video and called for action, saying technology was misused.

Sunny Leone talked about celebrities falling prey to deepfakes, revealing that it happened to her for years. She said deepfakes are ‘not a recent issue as many believe it to be’.

‘These things have happened to me’
When asked about actor Anushka Sen’s morphed photos being shared online with derogatory comments, Sunny Leone said, “These things have happened to me but honestly, I don’t think about it much. I don’t let it affect me psychologically or mentally. But there are young girls who have to sometimes face the stigma, but they should understand it’s not their fault. They did nothing wrong. If something like this happens, they can always go to the cyber cell and brief the officers about the case. Tell them your identity and likeness has been misused. The police will take action. And even on social media, there is technical help available where you can report these issues. The system is with you, you just need to do it.”

‘Celebs worry about their likeness being misused’
Talking about deepfakes, Sunny said that celebs cannot take precautions as it all depends on the mindset of the person creating these malicious videos and photos. She added that everyone is trying to figure out how to work with artificial intelligence (AI).

Sunny said, “It is the shiny new penny at the moment and everyone is trying new things out. More than the fear of being replaced, celebrities are worried about their likeness being misused. We saw that happening a lot last year where fake photos, videos and even voices were put out, leading to a menace… It’s a menace that’s been going on for a long time. It’s not a recent issue as many believe it to be.”

Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake video
Last year, a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna was doing the rounds on social media. Rashmika reacted and said people needed to address this as a community since ‘technology is being misused’. The actor thanked her family, friends and well-wishers, but admitted ‘the deepfake video of her being spread online was extremely scary’. The viral video showed a British-Indian woman dressed in black inside an elevator with her face edited using AI to resemble Rashmika.